A Special Thanks to The NamePros.com Domain Forum

As I was reading DomainGang.com's post on Namepros being sold, I got to thinking. Thinking about how I became interested in domains and how I figured stuff out back in the beginning. I had known about domains and already owned a few of them for various websites I was learning with back then. It was around 2004 and I was working with a partner selling merchandise on Ebay. We did this for extra income, we both had full time jobs, wives and mortgages so we weren't about to risk everything and scale things up.

We did well at it though profit wise. But problems included.... finding stuff to sell was consistently a pain in the ass; shipping was a lot of work too. Basically, although we were making a profit and having a little fun, we weren't very efficient and a lot of time and effort was being put into it. We got other responsibilities too, right?

Domain names were moving on Ebay back then. I saw the value in them for what they do but what really sparked my interest was there was an inexhaustible supply and you didn't have to ship the damn things. They were a perfect Ebay product I thought.

Figuring out which domains to buy is what lead me to NamePros.com. I don't remember how I found it or why I didn't come across DnForum.com initially. I just remember signing up and pretty much reading thread after thread soaking things up. The adrenalin rush I get whenever by entrepreneurial spirits kick up was working well at the time. I kept reading, asked questions and actually got plenty of answers at NamePros.com. The members were great.

I slowly began hand registering keyword domains and trying to sell them on Ebay.com. Results were positive but slow going as I wasn't confident in my buying skills yet so I was being cautious. There was a lot of talk about 4 letter .com's on Namepros.com at the time. The more obscure combinations were still available to register then. Speculation was that they would be bought up and gone within the next 18 months or so. Reading this and thinking about it I decided to make my first significant domain investment.

Obscure 4 letter .com's were available so I thought about who could use them. Didn't take long before the thought of radio station call letters came to mind. I'm thinking every radio station would own their call letters right? I found some online database of all USA radio stations, compiled the call letters, added the .com to check for availability. Nearly 100 of them were available.  I wasn't ready to drop $700 on all of them but I did trim the list down to approximately 50 and made the commitment. The ideas was to try and sell them to the radio stations for big profits. I didn't do that though. I ended selling them in bulk to another NamePros member who also saw the potential. I got around $40 per domain on that deal, turning my $400 investment into $2,000 in a few days. I was hooked on Namepros.com and domain names.

I didn't stay on Ebay much longer. I could sell at Namepros casual atmosphere without the fees. I was scanning thousands of dropped domains every day looking for domain to buy. I had become specialized with two and three word keyword domains. They made sense to me because I could analyze the search volume and advertising data on those. I could import a list of 40,000 and trim it down to a couple thousand that showed promise. From there, it was a matter of putting in the time and reading each one, discarding the losers. I'd end up with a list of roughly 250 domains each day and after the drop I'd see which ones were left. I'd register a handful that I thought would be easy flips and I'd still be left with 150 decent-to-good domains.

I began sharing those domains on Namepros in the Available Domains section. That thread gained quite a following, even helped me receive Member of the Month sometime in 2006. It also helped me promote my sales listings, and later inspired me to plunk the money down for AvailableDomainNames.com and start this blog. This domain hit the ground running based off the interaction and following I had from my lists at Namepros.com. My blog soon ranked which brought in new eyeballs to my lists. This allowed me to start an email newsletter which today has over 2,000 subscribers (disclosure: only 500 of them appear to actually open it based of stat package). I developed business relationships with large domain investors who had the capital to purchase the domains I pointed out to them. Things really took off for me and at that time my entire understanding of the domain industry was learned from other members at Namepros.com.

In hindsight, I'd just like to give thanks to NamePros.com. I must admit that I don't visit much anymore as my focus has changed but things seem much the same when I do visit. I love doing the lists but it requires time. Time that often conflicts with building out my own properties that bring in passive income. I'll always enjoy posting the lists though and will continue to do so when time allows. I'm sitting on a text file with over 15,000 of them that I've harvested over the years. I should put them on a slow drip for the Available Domain Names blog.

Looking for Available Internet Domain Names? We Got Em!

First off, If you arrived here via your search of choice looking for available internet domain names, you WILL find that HERE. That's what I usually do around here but this post isn't about that. This post is an seo experiment, a public one at that. Basically, can I target an undiscovered keyword that's closely related to my site content and rank quickly? I guess we'll find out.

I was in Wordtracker today, and discovered they've revamped their keyword tool. I experimented a little using this site as it's easily the largest I have. Punched in my primary keywords and received the usual returns. One looked off though. The term "available internet domain names" showed a search volume over one/third the amount of the primary term I target for this site. I'm skeptical. The term sounds so newbie to me, right? Google keyword data doesn't back up Wordtracker's stats either. The last detractor being I already rank at the bottom of the first page for this term and I've only received 1 visitor as a result of it in the past 30 days (see image below).

There may not be a traffic bonus at the end of this test but it's easy enough to try and I strongly suspect I'll learn something. Easy cuz I already rank for the term with a much less relevant page. This site/domain already ranks well for dozens of closely related terms. Basically, I think I just need a page (this one) with the basics and I'll be front and center. That's what I hope at least.

I hope to learn a few things. Is taking time to find related untargeted keywords worth it? Is targeting and ranking them difficult? Was there any merit to Wordtracker's data on the term or did Google have it right? If I do get new traffic, how will I take advantage of it. All sorts of stuff like that. I'll only get answers if I can rank for it so it'll suck if it sinks. I'll post updates in the comments section. Your comments welcome.

Public Plea: Wordtracker, your new keyword tool limits keyword lists to 100 and less. From a domainer's perspective, this kills the functionality I currently enjoy with the old tool. Please don't kill the old tool. Domainers use your software in a way totally different than keyword researchers, or at least I do. Being able to analyze exact terms in bulk makes Wordtracker a great tool for domainers. 100 at a time makes it practically impossible.

Updates

The post appeared on Google's 1st page, position 6 shortly after making it on the evening of January 5th. It quickly dropped to the second page within the hour. The original post that ranked for the targeted term disappeared from the first few pages of Google's index. I noticed that I made a typo in the title of my post by using "domains" instead of "domain." I edited the title of the post.

1/6/2012:  The post is back on page 1 position 7 for the term "available internet domain names" but Google still has the title with the typo listed in its index. I'm hoping to see a move up once the title is correctly indexed and matches the exact search term.

1/6/2012:  Google has re-indexed the post and is now displaying the proper post title. I'm now sitting nicely at page 1, position 3. I'll give it a few days to see if it settles at that position. One that's determined, I'll throw  a few anchored text links at the post to see if I can move to the very top.

1/7/2012: It didn't take long to draw a conclusion from this test. I shot up to 2nd position early on 1/6 and I've been there ever since. I tested the search term early on by clicking through from Google and verifying that it appeared in my analytics data. That visit is the only one I've received for the term since. If the keyword data were accurate, it should have generated between 10 to 25 visitors over the past 24 hours. It hasn't, which was kinda my feeling going in. I still learned something though and my instincts were right about the page ranking. I'll monitor for a week or so for changes.

Lessons learned:

• Check site stats for unexpected search terms. It's possible a little optimization can help make that search term a valuable traffic source for your site.
• Keyword data is best when it can be verified from numerous sources. Be skeptical if one service returns a search term result that conflicts with all the others.
• Running a test Adwords campaign is a good idea for any keyword you're about to invest significant time targeting. It's good to know the prize before entering the fight.

Time for Rest and Relaxation

Working hard is a good thing but if you don't take an occasional break, you can lose focus and motivation. I'll be scaling things back over the next week and spending some much needed time with family and friends.

I might post a list or two of alternative TLD's during that time, but I don't expect to be digging for any new .com or .net domain names until I crank things back up around June 20th.

Friday, June 12th is the last day for DomainMassDevelopment.com's 50% off offer. I ordered 15 sites last week and they were uploaded late last evening. I've had very little time to review them but they made a good first impression on me. Plenty of quality photos, videos and targeted unique content sprinkled throughout. The sites are very clean and you'll notice a complete absense of advertising at this point. I want to let the sites age a little and get properly indexed before I begin monetizing them or adding additional content.

Below is a link to the first site. You can view the whole network of sites using the left hand sidebar on the site below.

Big Sur Hotels

I really like the themed network concept and I cannot argue with the price. I cannot even guess how long it would have taken me to build these sites but I do know I wouldn't have been willing to do it for the price they did it for. There's only a few hours left on the 50% off offer.

Visit Domain Mass Development

The email newsletter containing additional available domain names will be back next weekend. If you haven't joined yet, why not? It's absolutely FREE and you can unsubscribe at any time.

The Importance of Trust in Business and the Domain Industry

The following guest article was written by Philip O'Neil, owner and editor of LLLL.com

TRUST

My name is Philip O’Neil. I started learning about the domain name industry around 5 years ago. One of my first experiences with domain names was to visit a domain and saw nothing on the site. I contacted the owner who asked for $1000. It seemed a lot at the time but in retrospect, it would have been a good buy. I talked with other people who would have been affected by the purchase. We wondered who this person was. Was this somebody who knew us and knew that we would pay this much? Was this somebody thousands of kilometers who took a punt when buying this domain? Who was this seller? Where was this seller? Why did this seller justify pricing the domain at $1000?

One thing was for sure. We did not trust the seller and based on discussions with the seller, he (she?) did not trust us. The deal did not go through and I settled on buying a name for registration fee. The idea of giving money to another person and waiting for them to give us a domain was way too scary.

Building trust is one of the most important parts of business. The domain name industry is dependent on trust to operate effectively. My experience has been that those who trust you will always pay more than those who don’t. Below are elements of trust that I believe all domain name professionals need to understand.

HONESTY

Trust and honesty go hand in hand. Often people will short change themselves by being dishonest over small things. When the big opportunities come around for them in life, they lose it because they didn’t earn trust with the small opportunities. They often feel sorry for themselves and angry that they miss out on great opportunities but the reality is that they have the opportunities and throw them away over small things. Never underestimate the opportunities that are in front of you!

The money making deals are often preceded by a smaller trust building small deal. I have seen this happen with my business many times and made thousands in sales after a small trust building deal!

RELATIONSHIPS

The biggest mistake in business is the danger of thinking that business is all about money. It is not! It is all about relationships. The more people get distracted away from relationships and focused on money, the more they send out the subtle message “I do not care about anyone but myself”. Studies have been done to show that businesses that solely operate to get the most money possible adopt characteristics that psychologists commonly associate with the characteristics of a psychopath. Always remember that you are dealing with humans, not dollars when you want to perform business as nobody likes dealing with psychopaths.

RISK

The more somebody trusts you, the higher the risk they will be willing to take. $100 is a high risk for a poor individual but $2000 a low risk for a wealthy individual. When dealing with domains, you usually don’t know who you are dealing with. Get to know your clients and when you have had made a sale with them, try to think of some way of keeping the communication open with them to learn more about them and also to attract more potential business.

Selling to established customers is usually easier than selling to new customers. My experience with domain sales is that you often have only one opportunity to leave a lasting thought in your clients head. Carefully plan what this thought is going to be or you will lose the opportunity for future business. Examples include a survey question, a mailing list, an invitation for further business, an invitation to visit a website, etc…

If you can afford to, take a risk with some customers. Taking risks builds trust.

TIME

It often takes years to build trust but seconds to destroy it. Patience is a key part of domain name trading. One customer may take minutes to trust you while another takes years. Often it looks like a new business has become popular from nowhere but in reality it has been around for more than ten years. If you think of performers like Kylie Minogue and John Travolta, they are respected because they kept performing in the hard years before attracting the mass markets with “I’m spinning around” and Pulp Fiction.

Look for ways to help your customers trust you quicker. This will improve the speed of trust and develop more business for you. Examples include using escrow, online trader ratings and testimonies.

DIPLOMACY

Keeping your mouth shut when somebody upsets you is usually the smart thing to do. Everybody usually upsets everyone eventually. Sometimes people upset you because they are right and you aren’t. Other times they are just saying stupid things. Diplomacy is not about being a doormat but about carefully picking the right times to fight.

BEING ORGANIZED

If you are disorganized, you can’t afford to make many promises as you don’t know if you can keep them. In addition to this, there are certain standards that people will expect of you that are considered unspoken promises when dealing with customers. Less is often more in business. Work out how to deliver to customers what they expect and don’t give them the impression that you can provide services you can’t or you will find it very difficult to succeed.

BRANDING

What has branding got to do with trust? People don’t trust you if they don’t remember you. Good branding is essential to building trust. They say that most people don’t buy from you until they have seen at least 7 advertisements.

CONFIDENTIALITY

A simple concept people should understand is:

The wealthy protect their assets while the poor have very little to protect.

Confidentiality is a key part of domain name trading as confidentiality reduces the potential expenses related to protecting assets for your clients. Some people love to boast about their purchases and their collections. However, the common financial advice that wealthy domain owners receive is to keep their cards close to their chest. Excluding people from working with you by not respecting their confidentiality can cost you your best customers. A business deal is usually between 2 people, not the whole world.

SURPRISE

Here is a trick I have learned. Surprising people is a brilliant way to generate business. Give people more than they expect or give to people when they don’t expect it. I have used this trick and generated thousands in sales. In relationships I find that you can give somebody a small $2 gift when they don’t expect it and this will often be more valuable than spending an extra $10 on a birthday present as the surprise element adds more value to the relationship. If you think of ways to creatively surprise your customers and give them a little more than they thought they were going to get then you may be surprised at the additional business that comes your way.

LAST NOTE

I hope you find this article useful. I am trying to develop useful domain name investing advice at my blog LLLL.com where I focus on the 4 letter domain name market. The domain name market has a lot of opportunities but it is also a highly competitive market. Building trust is just one element of the domain name market but I think it is one of the most important.

-Philip O'Neil

 

Does Commuter Traffic Become Domain Type-In Traffic?

I wonder what percentage of commuters notice the domain name references on billboard advertisements and business signs? Of the percentage that do notice, how many actually retain the proper URL and visit the website at a later time or date?

We've all heard of expired domain names and the traffic they can receive from existing links that still point to the domain. But what about type-in traffic from outdated advertising material?

Does this exist at all and if so, is significant type-in traffic generated from outdated billboards, magazines, or even vacant business that didn't remove their signs when they closed shop?

Case in point, the photo (top left) shows a vacant building formerly used by a lending company. The lending company may be gone but the signs are not. Rather impressive signs I might add. Despite closing for some unknown reason, they obviously understood the value of promoting their company and website to the traffic passing by.

What's even more intriguing and not evident from these photos is the fact that this building is located on W150th Street,  less than 100 feet away and in plain view of all traffic on I-71, just south of

Cleveland, Ohio. Between the street and highway, I estimate that at least 250,000 people drive by these signs every day. That’s a conservative guesstimate, it may be significantly higher but I have no documentation to back it up.

Some of these daily commuters are in the market for a mortgage or personal loan which probably increases the likelihood of them noticing these rather distinct signs as they pass by. Perhaps they make a mental note and jump online to check it out as soon as they get home or to the office. I’m sure it happens but how often? That’s what I’d like to know.

Here’s the kicker that may inspire you to try and find out for yourself. At the time of this post, the domain name you see in these photos doesn’t resolve at all. It doesn’t expire until 2011 and appears to be under the control of a web design company which was probably hired by the lending company. I sent out a few emails to the design company and to an individual who I believe was the owner of the lending company. I didn't receive a reply. That was the extent of my attempt to acquire it, mostly due to time constraints.

It seems a shame that this potential traffic, both highly targeted and mortgage related, is being met with a “page cannot be displayed” error. Without setting up a testing period it’s impossible to know how much type in traffic the domain receives and therefore impossible to assign a value to it. If it does receive significant traffic, how valuable would this domain be to another mortgage broker if the current traffic was redirected to their existing site?

There are a lot of unknowns when trying to acquire and monetize a domain like this. You have no control over how long the references to the domain will stay in place. Imagine buying this particular domain and having the building's owner take down the signs the following month.

If anyone follows through with this and acquires this domain, I'd love to hear how it works out for you.

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